Evadale, TX -- help a writer out? (good, anniversary)

[BobTex]

Evadale (we call it Evil smell) is located on US 96 just out of Silsbee about 5-6 miles I'd guess. Ain't much there but an intersection with FM 105 which comes from the south about 15 miles thru Vidor from I-10. Not much there ... a pretty goos Stihl sawshop, a fishmarket (Evadale sits on the opposite (east) bank of the Neches River from Silsbee) and the paper mill (hence the name "Evil Smell). The mill is now owned by Weslaco I think but was originally built by Temple Industries (Fortune 500...and now Temple Inland). Of course Arthur Temple is from Diboll where the company headquarters is located.

Some oil and gas is in the area (as with most of East Texas). The population is mostly country rednecks (like me), many who travel to the Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange petro-chemical complexes to work. Of course many also work in the mill. Also some work "in the woods" ... timber cutting and such! I think the high school plays 6 man football.

The river, which at one time was traversed by steam powered riverboats, is muddy/sandy/silty with a pretty good current. The river is pretty good fishing, mostly for catfish (see the fishmarket comment above). As the "bottom" is wide (the river bottom, or "valley") , is probably a mile and a half or so wide here ... maybe more. Good hardwood bottomland which starting just north of "town" the bottomland corridor comprises the jewel of the Big Thicket National Preserve. I hunted the west bank of the river about 5 miles up river from Evadale, when young, up until age 12.



My assessment of Evadale is ... its pretty much a dump. Some good people but the "town" itself is nothing but a few businesses scattered at this crossroad. The school is 1/2 mile south of town down FM 105. US Hwy 96 is a good concrete based split system from Beaumont up to Kirbyville and some areas beyond to north of Jasper. It will be one of the major hurricane evacuation routes for the Beaumont area ... this is a major reason to expand it to 4 lanes divided highway.


Not much else I can tell you ... I sure coulda pick more historically significant areas to base a story around. Good luck and keep us posted.

[loves2read]

and if you have never smell pulp wood smell there is no way that you can write about it that will be accurate and evocative...
write about what you know === that is basic advice--
I don't understand why you can't set your book in RGV
human values are universal

[BobTex]

Originally Posted by loves2read

and if you have never smell pulp wood smell there is no way that you can write about it that will be accurate and evocative...

[dizziedup]

Well, lovestoread, it's a good thing I've smelled wood pulp smell, then, isn't it? (my best friend's dad works in the lumber business, and I went along to a paper mill once...)

I really don't see a need to explain why I don't want to write about the RGV. It's personal. Besides that, I don't believe in writing only "what you know." I'm not a fan of that advice because, frankly, it restricts creativity.

From what I know of Evadale so far, I really like it as a location. I want to try to make it work. When I hit a word count of 30k and start editing the first 1/2-1/3 of the book, I will re-evaluate the setting. Until then, I am set on Evadale.

BobTex... thank you *so* much for your post!! You've been extremely helpful!! Everything you said is very useful to me; you've actually clarified a few things that I was struggling with (namely: football, fishing, and info about the mill). I talked to a woman from Evadale, and she said that the smell is worse on rainy/cloudy days... sound about right? I'll definitely keep ya'll updated!

[loves2read]

"creativity" and quality are not always equals...
obituary for Horton Foote in the paper today--quality all the way around...

[Aunt Bann]

Dizzied Up, I can tell you about Evadale because I grew up there. I lived there from birth (in a log cabin) until I started college after an extra year of high school. And my second husband and I lived on the exact place I was born (the cabin had burned, so we built a house there) for about 5 years in the 1990s. We both grew up in Evadale, and were in the second class that graduated from the high school.

The native trees, as you might guess, are pine. The Neches River forms the west side of the community, and of the county. The main highway is Hwy. 96, which goes from below Beaumont to the border with Oklahoma. The soil is a clayey loam, which holds water and produces fairly good gardens.

As for the school, and the football team, it is a 1-A school, and the football team won their district this past year, with only one loss. It is NOT a 6-man team!!! Other sports are basketball, volleyball, and baseball. Track is also one of the sports pursued in the school. The band is small, but that is because so many of their players also play football and other sports.

The graduating classes run around 20-30 each year, and have most of the time that the school has been a full 12 grades. The first class had only 7 graduates; our class had 18. After that, the classes were in the 20s and low 30s.

The town was begun as a sawmill town, with Authur Temple and John Henry Kirby both having interests there. A railroad has gone through the edge of town since before World War II, at least! There used to be another railroad there, but it has since been moved; it was partially a side track, but was used extensively for several years.

Several churches are there, and at least one grocery store. There was another one, but that one is now more of a gas station/snack bar type of store. Back to the churches, there was only one when I was a child. It was used in rotation by the Baptists, Methodists, Church of Christ, and Apostolics. There are now individual churches for all the denominations that are presently there, such as Baptists (2) and Pentecostals. I will have to do some research to be sure what other denominations are still there.

The post office still puts mail into boxes and the postmistress knows most of the residents who come in. She grew up there, and has lived there most (if not all) of her life.

The paper mill is still there, and there is an airport close by it. However, the airport is not there for the paper mill; it is privately owned, and is used by them, to some extent, but not exclusively. There are also races at the airport on Friday nights in the fall and spring. I'm not sure what kind of races they are, but I think they are sports cars.

Oh, yes---the fish market doesn't get their catfish from the river. They get them from somewhere in Louisiana or further east, and feed them out in their own tanks. My middle brother worked there (the owner graduated with me) and drove the truck to bring them back, several times.

Maybe this will help you some. If you have any other questions, or need more information, I will be glad to help, and can probably get the answers some day when I go down to check my mail. (Yes, I still get some mail there; the P.O. box is one that my family has used since World War II.)

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by dizziedup

Well, lovestoread, it's a good thing I've smelled wood pulp smell, then, isn't it? (my best friend's dad works in the lumber business, and I went along to a paper mill once...)

I really don't see a need to explain why I don't want to write about the RGV. It's personal. Besides that, I don't believe in writing only "what you know." I'm not a fan of that advice because, frankly, it restricts creativity....

Well, you are willing to come on a public forum to pick other people's brains for free information, so you had better expect suggestions and questions. If you are unwilling to visit the location about which you are supposedly writing, then that particular attitude stinks.

If you can't handle that, then forget it!

[Aunt Bann]

Well, the high school's colors are blue and gold, they are the Rebels, and I never saw a lilac until I had lived elsewhere for many years. Many of the residents are either descended from the "old-timers" or moved in when the paper mill was built. The school is a 1-A school, and is usually rated high on the academic rating scale. Many graduates do go on to college; some stay, get married, have children who go through the system, and also have some link to the paper mill.

In March, if I remember correctly, there is usually a Catfish Festival. This year, because the fair in Beaumont was postponed because of Ike, the festival will be later (April?) in the spring. Otherwise, the two would have been competing with each other, especially the two days of the festival.

The Lions' Club, the Masons, and several other groups have long been active in Evadale. I don't know all of them, because I was never a part of that group of people, except through church and school. There are people who could tell you about them, but I don't know how much they would want to say or if they would talk to you at all. Most of the people who live there are very proud of the town and school, but are hesitant to talk to "outsiders".

[loridori4]

Don't know how far you are in your book, but I live in Vidor, which is due south of Evadale. I can tell you a little about it.

Predominantly white, blue collar town. Major industry is the paper mill, which makes our town smell like a septic tank when the wind blows from the north! The locals give it the pet name "Evilsmell" LoL

The high school still sports the proud rebel flag on it's sign, which in and of itself has been the subject of much controversy.

No traffic lights that I know of. Few little stores. Fire station. RR track runs through it. That's about it!

[jaxart]

Originally Posted by dizziedup

Like I mentioned before, I'd be royally ticked if someone completely misrepresented my hometown... out of respect for others, I'd rather do the extra work to make sure my facts are straight.

How many people could that possibly be - and that's assuming ANY of the people there (or from there) ever read what you write!

It seems to me the OBVIOUS thing to do if you refuse to spend time in the actual setting is to invent the place totally, including it's name. Kind of a no brainer, IMO.